The World Tree Incident
by Bunbunmaru News
Summary: The Outer World is changing—which some are not keen about. That's originally what beckoned the Youkai of Change into Gensokyo. But things turn out differently than expected when she brings a companion of hers... who also happens to be an unexpected variable. Side project, sporadic update warning.


**The World Tree Incident,** _ **Prelude**_

It was the dead of night when she stepped out. If someone had been awake at the stroke of 2 A.M., they would have seen the air shimmer and quiver, then ripple like a splash of water as the lady stepped out. They would have seen her: a tall and slender figure with cascading black hair in a green-and-yellow-dappled dress that blew gently in a non-existent breeze, changing colors to all appearances as like light penetrating the deep green forests. Around her, a faint silvery aura of power rotated, one minute a barely visible ghost of a globe, the next gone, the only evidence of its continued existence being the dust cloud it kicked up. Of course, no one was awake to see this phenomenon of constant change. In fact, it was a miracle no one jolted awake at what happened next.

After surveying her surroundings, the woman held up her hand. From her outstretched palm, like a leaf from a tree branch, a single orb of pure blue energy took flight. Following the breeze that seemed to constantly circle the lady, the leaf spiralled around her twice before flying off to the land beyond the mountains in the distance.

The figure smiled to herself, saying, "Change has come to you, fabled land of old. Life as you know it will soon cease." Tossing her head back, the woman of the night let out a howl of laughter that echoed long after the "fabled land of old" awakened, tossing and turning and groaning, shaking the great earth. The laughter echoed long after wind rustled through the trees, bringing with it the psithurism that seems to signal an oncoming storm. The sound didn't vanish as its source, which was suddenly orbited by a thick cloud of small green satellites, did. In fact, the sound seemed to transcend time and space, cutting through the hours of the night. The ghost of the last laugh was still there when someone else opened her eyes to the day, a falling leaf, and the silhouette of a witch on a broom flying off.

* * *

Reimu Hakurei, Shrine Maiden of Paradise, awoke to a number of strange sights and sounds that morning. Least strange of which was the sight of a witch flying off on a broom in the distance. Oh, just Marisa. It was only after a minute of staring at the spot where the Black-White magician had been that she realized she had a leaf on her nose. As Reimu moved to pluck the leaf off, a sudden gust rustled the trees, snatching the leaf from between her fingers and carrying it out the window into the blue-green world.

As she went about getting ready for another day, Reimu thought about the strange dream she'd had. It had been, without a doubt, her strangest dream to date. She'd dreamed she was watching as a creepy blue-like-water-eyed youkai wrapped in a silvery ghost gale had suddenly appeared in the night. She vaguely remembered a cloud of leaves flying about in a flurry caused by the blowing wind as the earth awakened, shaking. Reimu shuddered. Thank goodness it wasn't real—was it? This was Gensokyo after all. One never knew what to expect. Here in this land of fantasy, the border between dreams and reality was blurred like no other.

Reimu immediately stopped what she was doing and looked around her. The various wall hangings and furniture seemed untouched. There was no evidence of destruction inside her house but she went outside and checked just to be sure. She was _not_ going to risk another Scarlet Weather Incident. Reimu took a deep breath as she braced herself for the destruction that might have occurred. As her eyes adjusted to the strong sunlight and the flying dust that was just settling down, she saw something that thoroughly surprised her. The trees around the shrine and the shrine itself were all untouched. Even the pavement that lead to the shrine still had the piles of leaves she was too lazy to clean up. Thank goodness.

But something still felt off. Her spine was still tingling and her sixth sense—which was usually correct—kept going haywire for no apparent reason. Reimu shrugged it off. If there was no evidence of an incident, and no one was running to her (not that they ever did anyway), then there was no reason to worry. No witnesses and no reason to worry equated to no work that needed to be done. But then, why had it sounded like the youkai's cackle of malicious laughter was real?

* * *

Marisa Kirisame was vaguely aware of two things in her semi-conscious state between awake and asleep. First of which was the _thing_ that had found a new home in her nose. The second was something looming over her. Of course, being only half awake, her mind put it off as a certain prankster rabbit's ears rubbing against her nose as they both were drowned by a phantom captain. She flailed her arms and legs about, trying to stay afloat while pushing off the rabbit. Just as she was being swept under by a particularly large wave, Marisa jolted awake just as she was falling off her bed, dropping the leaf from her nose. She got up, dusting her clothes off and rubbing her sore nose, wincing. She saw the leaf on the ground, innocently sitting there as if it hadn't just hurt someone. As she moved to pick it up, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a silhouette perched on the trees, watching her. Just as she turned her head, the figure vanished. Huh. Her eyes were fixed on the sky for quite some time, watching to see if that figure had taken flight. However, after a long moment of stillness, she decided that the figure had already left. She turned around to pick up the dropped leaf. But where was it? It had only been here a second before. Marisa scratched her head and stared at the spot for some time, trying to make heads or tails of it all. Five minutes into her day and weird had suddenly found her. No point in trying to go back to sleep after such strange events had unfolded. There were some youkai to bust.

* * *

While most of the residents of Gensokyo were still asleep at this time—the miko and the magician wouldn't be awake for quite some time, thank goodness—the Maid for the Scarlet Moon was already up and about cleaning the massive Western castle from which a scarlet mist had once come from. Looking out the recently polished windows, she saw the fading glow of the full moon as the sun peeked out from the east, casting a glow on the foggy lake and causing the morning dew to shimmer. Such a beautiful scene.

Sakuya Izayoi turned back to her work after a moment and continued walking down the hall towards the door that lead to the entrance hall. As she approached it, she noticed that the doors were open. Looks like the mouse was awake earlier than she thought. A single droplet of sweat ran down her head. "Oh dear," she thought. "The cleaning is getting nowhere. The mistress is going to be mad at me."

As she closed the door and prepared to turn around, Sakuya's neck tingled. Someone was behind her and watching her. She froze time—literally, turning everything into inverted colors as she gave herself a moment to relax and look around her. The figure was in the corner and completely wrapped in darkness. They were clever, she had to give them that. Even if she shoved them from the corner, the light wouldn't be able to reach them until after she restarted time. So instead, Sakuya pulled out her knives and surrounded the figure in them. It didn't matter how many knives hit them; if the person was not a regular human, then the knives wouldn't do more than sting really really badly. She doubted they were a normal human though. No one would be suicidal enough to go in the mansion, drop hints of their existence, and then stand in a shady corner, not when they knew they wouldn't be spared. Sakuya turned back around, pretending like she had just closed the door, and restarted time.

Instead of the dull sound of metal piercing flesh like she expected, Sakuya heard the sounds of metal on beautiful, polished floor. She turned around, dropping her facade completely and watched in fascinated horror as all her hard work was ruined.

* * *

In the boundary between the various dimensions, there exists perhaps the single most powerful youkai in all of Gensokyo. Most of the time though, this dubious dweller of the boundary is doing what everyone would prefer she was doing—sleeping, leaving most of her tasks to her fox shikigami, Ran Yakumo. However, on this particular day, she was wide awake, an inauspicious omen. In fact, she had just gotten up, and was preparing to leave when her shikigami stopped her, asking, "Yukari-sama, may I help you with anything?"

Yukari Yakumo replied, "I'm just going out for a walk."

Ran knew her master well enough to know that "a walk" meant that an incident was about to occur. And not just any regular one. The last time Yukari had "gone out for a walk", an earthquake had leveled the Hakurei Shrine, resulting in a race amongst some of the more outspoken members of the land to the top of a mountain. "May I ask what seems to be the trouble?"

"It would appear as though a new youkai has found their way here. And something else seems to have followed them," replied Yukari, unclear as always. "I'll summon you if I need any further assistance."

"As you wish," Ran replied. With that, a gigantic tear-shaped rip in space itself appeared in front of master and servant, and when it closed, only servant remained. The master had left for the aforementioned shrine, reappearing the next instant behind one red-white shrine maiden sweeping away the late autumn leaves. Suffice it to say the humans of the nearby village did not appreciate the method with which they were woken up.

* * *

 _Remembering the melancholy of human existence, even ghosts stray from the path of righteousness_.

Yuyuko Saigyouji, the Ghost Princess of the Pavilion of Twilight, was not someone who was normally in a serious mood. However, on this day where strange events littered the hours, she stood gazing at the youkai cherry blossom tree that would never again achieve a full bloom. The aged brown bark seemed to glow with an eerie purple light as wind blew through the pure land. Her servant, Youmu Konpaku, walked to a stop beside her, asking, "Is something the matter, Lady Yuyuko?"

An icy chill rustled the ghost's bubblegum-pink hair and her eyes narrowed to slits, a stark contrast to her normally cheery disposition. "Something strange is stirring, Youmu."

"What is it, Lady Yuyuko?" she replied.

"A new threat. An unparalleled incident is about to occur. Come. We're leaving for Gensokyo." Youmu raised her eyebrows at this. Even for Yuyuko, this was an incredibly fast change of thoughts. This would be the third time in recorded history in which the two ghosts would traverse into the world of the living to resolve an incident. Who were they, this strange and mysterious unknown, that agitated both ghosts and youkai alike? Youmu failed to suppress a shudder at the thought as supple, pink cherry blossoms danced in their wake, completely out of place with the red, gold, and orange autumnal decorations that were set up in celebration around the lively Netherworld garden.

* * *

High above the mountain that pierced the sea of clouds, a single shrine sat, facing off into the land where science blurred and fantasy began. Its timbers sat silently and lonely amidst an otherwise barren landscape while the shimenawa at its tori gate blew forlornly in the morning breeze. Unlike its counterpart, the Hakurei Shrine led by Reimu Hakurei, this shrine had three goddesses, and _everyone_ was well aware of these troublemakers.

Sanae Kochiya, shrine maiden and resident living goddess of the Moriya Shrine, was not someone who normally woke up early. Being so far up the Youkai Mountain meant people rarely visited and the fact that the shrine had been both the direct and indirect cause of three incidents didn't help matters at all. However, on this day, where trouble was brewing thick and strong, a knock and an urgent call of "Wake up!" jerked her from her peaceful slumber. She got up, rubbing her eyes, grumpily wondering who could possibly be calling her awake at this ungodly hour. She sat up, stretched, and looked around her room for her clock. Oh. There it was. _Tick. Tick. Tick._ Sanae glared in disgust: it was already 7:00 o'clock.

She sighed: It would only be another hour before it was time to wake up anyways. Another pound on the door broke her dazed mood. She chewed her mouth a couple of times before getting up, grumbling to herself about visitors and waking people up. She threw the door open and squinted hard as her eyes tried to adjust to the strong light that heavily contrasted with her warm, dark room. Standing before her, tapping her foot urgently and glancing in the distance every two or three seconds, was a kappa.

The kappa was less than five feet tall, with a flowery pink dress and white shoes. The look on her face clearly said "trouble." "Hm?" Sanae rubbed her eyes, sleepiness threatening to overtake her at any moment. Darn it, why couldn't she present herself in a more divine manner today? "How can I help you?"

The kappa's mouth moved but the mess of words that spewed forth was impossible for the Moriya maiden to understand. "I'm sorry what?" she asked.

"There's… been a problem," she tried again. Sanae's eyebrows arched. "A tree―a massive tree has appeared. And we don't know who summoned it."

Sanae blinked. "That… doesn't really sound like a problem. The tree probably won't do any harm."

"No, you don't get it!" exclaimed the kappa. "The trees around the area will soon die!"

"How?" asked Sanae. "The tree can't possibly be so big that…" Sanae's voice trailed off. She wasn't in the real world anymore. This was Gensokyo. If a massive tree had appeared, it could be anywhere from sixty feet tall to countless miles. "Where is it?"

"To the north. Beyond the mountain," said the kappa, pointing in said direction.

"Thank you. I'll go investigate as soon as I can," said Sanae as she went to get changed. Something strange was afoot. She'd better go wake Kanako and Suwako-sama.

* * *

A crowd of tengu and kappa from the mountain had gathered around the gigantic tree that had sprung up overnight. Staring up at the pillar of brown wood that reached the firmaments, they wondered together, asking questions that no one had answers to. Their combined murmurs amongst each other was the equivalent to a swarm of agitated bees. Talking, talking, talking. About who had caused this great tree to rise so quickly. Murmuring, murmuring. About its sheer size. Then, from amidst the crowd of easily hundreds of youkai, a voice boomed, "I'll go check to see how tall the tree is. Someone else go circle around it!"

The voice belonged to one of the tengu, and between the mathematical brilliance of the kappa race and the particularly useful powers of the tengu, a method was devised to measure both the approximate height and width of the tree.

The plan was simple: One tengu would fly straight up with something the Outside World called a "stopwatch" until she reached the top and record the time on a piece of paper. The other would fly around the tree, starting the "stopwatch" the instant she took off and record the time after returning to the finish line. Both tengu were to fly at approximately 60 mph.

"On your marks. Get set. Go!" Yelled a kappa. The two tengu shot off, one piercing the clouds, the other making a beautiful turn following the curve of the tree's trunk. Anticipation mounted as all awaited the return of the two youkai. Everyone's breath seemed to be held as a minute passed. Then two. Then three. After 12 minutes, both tengu returned, breathing hard.

"There's no end to the tree," gasped the one that had flown up.

"I can't seem to get around the accursed thing either," wheezed the other. The silent crowd was dumbstruck. How could a single tree get so unfathomably and impossibly big, even in Gensokyo?! The kappa quickly did the math with the meager scraps of info the tengu had found. They had flown for six minutes at their nearly-constant speed before giving up. Not accounting for the time the two tengu had lost or gained speed, that meant that the tengu had traveled about 6 miles up and around…

Just then, another tengu voiced everyone's thoughts out loud. "Someone get the shrine maiden to investigate!" Everyone instantly turned to the source with what could only be described as a "sweatdrop face." It took Aya Shameimaru, the tengu that had suggested paying the miko a visit, a good 10 seconds before she realized what the crowd was trying to tell her. With a miffed look on her face, she took off, muttering under her breath a string of unsavory curses.

* * *

Nanabai no Henkou stood atop the World Tree that had caught so much attention, gazing down at the blue-green world beneath the patches of broken clouds. A malicious grin that she failed to suppress split across her face. Oh this was great! Beyond perfect! Everyone was doing all the work she'd originally planned on doing herself; the youkai of the mountain had their attention on her great Yggdrasil, which would allow the news of strange stuff to spread and the incident resolvers to come to her. All was going according to plan. The mere thought of how perfectly things were going made her tingle. She loved it when things went smoothly and efficiently. However, she had eyes only for one person—or rather, youkai: Yukari Yakumo. Violet mistress of the Boundary.


End file.
